Measuring or indicating instrument.



G. H. VEEDER. MEASURING 0R INDIGATING INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE30, 1906.

937,015. Patented 0ct.12,1909.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30. 1906.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CURTIS HUSSEY VEEDER, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE VEEDERMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OFCONNECTICUT.

MEASURING 0R INDIGATING INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CURTIs HUSSEY VEE- DER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Measuring or IndicatingInstruments, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates particularly to instruments which are adapted toshow the speed of rotation and the number of rotations of a rotatingbody such as a driving shaft, or the speed of rotation alone.

The invention has been developed with special reference to itsapplication to motor vehicles, the improved instrument being adapted toshow the speed of the vehicle and, if desired, to show in addition thedistances traveled.

The object of the invention is primarily to improve the construction ofspeed indicating devices for the purpose of overcomin difliculties whichhave been experienced hitherto in the use of devices of a similarcharacter and for the purpose of making the instrument more simple,compact and convenient both for application and for observation and,furthermore, to enable the distance recording instrument to be directlycombined with the speed indicating instrument and driven by the samemeans.

The speed indicating devices are of the general character of those shownin Letters Patent of the United States Nos. 7 32,97 5 and 7 33,358 bothdated July 7, 1903, in which the speed is indicated by the varyingheight of a column of liquid as affected by the speed of rotation of apaddle wheel, but in the improved instrument there is no stuffingboxbelow the level of the liquid in the reservoir, the paddle wheel isdriven and the displacement plunger is operated from above the surfaceof the liquid in the reservoir, the free surface of the liquid in thereservoir is vertically or nearly so under the surface of the liquid inthe indicating column when in its average or running position so thatthe indication of the instrument is not affected by any ordinaryinclination of the motor vehicle in going up or down hill, the odometeror distance indicating device is applied directly to the casing of thetachometer or speed indicating device and is driven by the 2 same shaftand the entire instrument is more compact and simple in construction.

The invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which it is illustrated as embodied in aconvenient and practical form and in which Figure 1 is a view in sideelevation of the improved instrument. Fig. 2 is a view thereof in frontelevation. Fig. 3 is a view thereof in vertical central section. Fig. 4is a detail view in vertical central section on a plane at right anglesto that of Fig. 3, showing particularly the driving mechanism, and Fig.5 is a detail view in transverse section illustrating particularly thedisplacement plunger. 7

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the glassindicator tube a is preferably curved because the instrument is thusmore easily read from a point above its level than if the tube isvertical, and because the spacing of the scale at the bottom may therebybe increased. It is secured at its upper and lower ends in a suitablesupport 6 which also contains in its lower portion, vertically beneaththe lower portion of the tube a, a reservoir 0 with which the tube acommunicates through a channel a and a pump chamber c. When the top ofthe column of liquid in the tube a stands in its average or usualrunning position, it 1s then vertically over the free surface of theliquid in the reservoir 0, so that the height of the liquid in the tubeis not materially affected by ordinary changes in the inclination of theinstrument, as when the motor vehicle to which it is applied is going upor down hill. Means are provided such as a screw a working in a gland ain the bracket which supports the lower end of the indicator tube a, forthe purpose of choking the passage from the pump chamber to theindicator tube to prevent dancing of the liquid in the tube. The returnpipes a connect the top of the tube a with the top of the reservoir 0 soas to return the liquid to the reservoir if the speed is great enough toforce it out or the top or the indicator tube and so as to maintain thebalance of pressure on the liquid in the indicator tube and on that inthe reservoir.

The reservoir 0 and pump chamber 6 form part of the main chamber withinthe support I), the upper portion 0 of such chamber being extendedupwardly with a substantially cylindrical cross section. The lower endof the chamber 0 0 e is closed by a screw cap d which is provided with adrainage plug 03. The shaft f which carries and drives the pump orpaddle wheel 9, is extended axially and nearly vertically through thechamber 0 0 e and is mounted in suitable bearings (P, in the cap (Z, and(l in a plug 03 which is adjustably mounted in the upper end of thesupport or casing. In suitable lateral heads (Z (Z in the upper portionof the support or casing, is mounted a short horizontal shaft f gearedto the shaft f by bevel gears f and coupled at one end, as at F, to theusual flexible driving shaft by which movement is transmitted from thevehicle to the pump or paddle wheel 9 of the measuring instrument.

The displacement plunger 2' is located in the cylindrical portion 0 ofthe chamber 0 0, above the reservoir 0, and is provided on one side witha rack a" which is engaged by a pinion 6 formed on a shaft i The latteris mounted in suitable bearings in the support or casing b and isprovided externally with a suitable knob 71* by means of which thedisplacement plunger 2' for varying the level of the liquid in thereservoir may be raised and lowered. It will be observed that the shafti is located wholly above the reservoir 0, so that, as the shaft f isaxial and driven from above, there is no stufling box in the instrumentbelow the surface of the liquid in the reservoir to create friction andso increase the power to drive the apparatus, it being highly desirableto reduce as much as possible the strain and consequent wear on theflexible driving shaft and gears. The knob i may be provided with atoothed detent 2' to prevent accidental movement of the plunger 2'.

It is found that when the reservoir 0 communicates directly with thepump chamber 6 and throughout the full diameter of the res ervoir, eddycurrents or swirls are created in the liquid in the reservoir by therevolution of the paddle, so that the indications of the liquid columnin the tube a vary somewhat according to the distance of the plunger 71from the paddle g, the body of liquid in which the eddy currents orswirls are set up being varied accordingly. To prevent the formation ofsuch eddy currents or swirls a disk 0 perforated as at 0 is interposedbetween the reservoir 0 and the pump chamber 6. This disk 0 also forms astop to limit the downward movement of the plunger 1., the upwardmovement being limited by contact of the end of the rack z" with thepinion i".

As pointed out hereinbefore, the distance measuring device may bedirectly combined with the speed measuring device, in one structure. Asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings an ordinary odometer 7a, theconstruction of which is as usual, and need not be explained herein, issecured directly to the support or casing b or to the head d thereof andis driven by the extended end 7, shown in Fig. 4, of the shaft f. Notonly are the speed measuring and the distance measuring devices thusplaced in convenient proximity, but they are driven together through acommon driving mechanism from the wheel of the vehicle or other rotatingbody, the speed of rotation and the number of rotations of which aretobe shown.

In order that driving engagement of the flexible driving shaft,represented at f, with the shaft f may be readily effected, the socketindicated at f in the shaft f is beveled off on each side, as at f, sothat the driving pin f is practically certain to enter the slot in theshaft.

It will be obvious that details of construction and arrangement of theim )roved instrument may be varied to suit di 'erent conditions and thatthe invention is not limited to the precise construction shown.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a speed measuring instrument, the combination of a support orcasing, a liquid reservoir and a curved indicating tube, a paddle wheelbetween said reservoir and indicating tube and driving mechanism forsaid paddle wheel, the lower portion of said reservoir being locatedsubstantially vertically below the lower portion of the indicating tube,whereby the height of the liquid in the tube is not affected by ordinarychanges in inclination of the instrument.

2. In a speed measuring instrument, the combination of a support orcasing, a liquid reservoir and speed indicating tube, said reservoirhaving an upward extension, a paddle wheel between said reservoir andindicating tube, driving mechanism for said paddle wheel, a displacementplunger movable in said extension of the reservoir, and means projectingexternally of the support or casing above the reservoir for shiftingsaid plunger.

3. In a speed measuring instrument, the combination of a support orcasing, a liquid reservoir having an upward extension and a speedindicating tube, a paddle wheel, driving mechanism for said paddlewheel, a displacement plunger movable in said extension above thereservoir and provided with a rack, and a shaft and pinion located inthe wall of said support or casing above the ms V ervolr IOI operamveengagement; wltn said prevent the tormatlon 0t SWlIlS 1n the reserrack.voir. 10

4. I [n a speed measuring instrument, the This specification signed andwitnessed comblnatlon of a support or casmg, a liquld this 21st day ofJune, A. D., 1906.

5 reservoir and speed indicating tube, a paddle CURTIS HUSSEY VEEDER.

Wheel, driving mechanism for said paddle Signed in the presence ofWheel, and a perforated plate interposed be- E. BARBIE SMITH,

tween the reservoir and the paddle wheel to E. G. BIDDLE.

